Every Step Of The Way
by PrizJefra
Summary: Fuenciado Fluff, anyone? Vic is at risk of losing his mind over the man that he loves. What happens when Jaime, laden with his usual dimpled smile and Preciado charm, finally catches him alone?


"Thank you all for coming out tonight! It was a wonderful show and we'll see you next time!"

The last thing that Vic saw before he turned away was Jaime raising his hands to a screaming crowd in a farewell gesture. Cold sweat dripped from his brow and snaked its way onto his lips as, with a parting peace sign flashed at the crowd matched by a wide smile, he turned away from it all and began to run. At first it started off easy: he simply jogged through the endless corridors past many tearful fans and grinning producers. He wanted to stop for them. He wanted to kiss the scarred wrists beneath hands that reached for him, he wanted to share their smiles and hear their stories but if he did not find solitude soon he felt as if he would simply collapse. The thought gave him a new energy and soon he was all out sprinting through the dingy basement halls, speedy compliments and questions whizzing past him and stinging his cheeks until finally he found himself alone in a backstage bathroom.

He could still hear the music throbbing and the wild cheering beyond the crumbling walls but as he sidled up to the mirror with his eyes glued on his own wet face a single, drifting through settled in his mind and drowned out everything else. "Can I just have one more taste...just to make it through the day," he mumbled to himself. The man in the mirror looked so distant and unfocused. Vic sighed. "...you're tangled in the Great Escape."

Suddenly he grabbed the faucet handles and wrenched them violently, already lusting after the feel of the cool, crisp water on his face. When it came it was like a blast of rejuvenation that made him gasp and shudder. "Not what I want, not what I need," he said with eyes closed. It was less of a song and more of a mantra at this point for, truthfully, Vic Fuentes knew what he wanted. He knew it was what he needed.

Jaime Preciado.

He usually had a pretty good grasp on his feeling for his younger bandmate. They were friends - more than friends, as rightfully observed by their fans - and he was glad to be friends. Yet he knew by the subtle electricity that he felt every time he grabbed Jaime's hand or started playing with his hair on impulse that he didn't just like him because 'he was a pretty cool dude.' He wanted to play with his hair deep into the night, he wanted to grab his hand and steal kisses without having to joke about it for the audience. Vic loved Jaime in the greatest sense of the word and watching him pour his soul and passion into the music that night had driven Vic over the fucking edge and into a whirlwind of lovesick confusion.

Jaime Preciado.

Vic just needed one more taste.

He sighed and ran his hands over his face, massaging the space around his eyes with his fingers. If only...

Suddenly the door to the bathroom flew open with a bang. Vic sighed and tried to mentally conjure up a smile but the music in the voice that reached his ears made his heart do a double backflip and then turn to ice.

"Hey. Great show, man," Jaime came up behind him and patted his shoulder with what Vic knew, without looking, to be his trademark dimpled smile. Jaime squeezed his shoulder. "We really rocked it out there."

"Yeah. Rocked it so hard that you almost fell off the stage."

Jaime laughed as he walked into the only stall in the small bathroom. As much as Vic wanted to hightail it out of such a suddenly small place filled with the sound and thought of Jaime he simply couldn't. He was intoxicated, suspended in the desire for the man's breathless words. So Vic stood there with his hands on either edge of the sink, staring at himself in the mirror as he waited and hated himself for waiting.

"That was planned," Jaime spat back. Vic rolled his eyes and gave an audible sigh of disbelief. Jaime laughed again as the sound of a zipper being zipped up cut through the air. "Besides," he added as he came out of the stall, "I was really into it tonight. I don't know why."

Vic was silent as Jaime came up behind him and started to wash his hands, humming all the while. He paused once to smile at Vic - a smile that was weakly returned -before running his wet hands over his pants to dry them.

"_You _were really good tonight," he said in an unexpectedly serious voice. Vic looked over at him in confusion, not sure whether to be suspicious or excited by the earnestness that flashed in his band mate's brown eyes. Jaime always smiled but now, as he stood there brushing his hands back and forth over his jeans, his face was dead serious with only the smallest flicker of light in his eyes. "I mean, you're always really good but tonight you just…" he made a face and hit his thigh with his fist.2 "It was out there, and it really got to me, you know?"

Vic parted his lips to speak- a useless endeavor, he didn't know what to say - and for a moment simply stared at Jaime. It wasn't as if he had never been complimented before but something about the whole situation and the emotions that had preluded it made his eyes fill with tears. He was quick to wipe them away angrily yet all the same he was sure that Jaime saw them. _Shit_, he thought to himself. The last thing he wanted was sympathy from a wandering mind that would most likely never wander his way but Jaime simply grabbed his shoulders again and fixed him with an inquisitive gaze.

"Hey," he said, his brown eyes flashing, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just-" Vic shrugged, "after-show jitters..."

Jaime stared at him for an uncomfortably long time. His look was neither disbelieving nor sorrowful but somehow just right. Vic wanted to be looked at like that. He wanted to carry that image of Jaime with him to the grave without ever losing it. Jaime squeezed his shoulders, unknowingly pulling Vic in closer to his body. "Okay," he said in a low voice that made Vic shudder and want to close his eyes. But he couldn't look away. He just didn't want to. "Okay," Jaime said again, "Hey...you really were great tonight. Seeing you up there, having a good time, being passionate about what you're doing...it just..." he rested his forehead against Vic's and was silent for a moment. "It just makes me so glad to know that I can be a part of it all with you every step of the way."

Vic didn't know where the kiss had come from, nor did he think he would ever know. One moment they were still, breathing gently, waiting for the right words to light upon them and in the next moment everything was dark as Vic closed his eyes and let Jaime place a small kiss on the corner of his lips. Sound, sight, smell, taste - all senses ceased to exist except that of wonderful touch as Vic shifted his head to the side and locked their lips in a perfect soundless symphony.

Without another thought their hands began to wander of their own accord. Clothes were ruffled and pushed aside impatiently as they finally explored each other's neck, shoulders, chest, and torso. Vic was sure that he would explode - he knew that Jaime was close to losing it, too - and he wasn't sure if he was relieved or disappointed when the door swung open for the second time and Tony stepped into the bathroom. He took in their tangled, panting figures with blank eyes betrayed only by a quick twitch in his lips.

"Don't you guys have an interview or something?" he asked quietly. Suddenly the two men remembered that they were still clinging to each other and quickly pulled away with an embarrassed laugh.

"Yeah. Rock Sound again, right?" Vic asked. He felt Jaime snake his palm into his hand and squeeze it tight. Tony shrugged.

"It's your interview."

"We could always delay it," Jaime said, placing his chin on Vic's shoulder. "Because we need to talk, my friend. We need to have a loooong, drawn out talk."

"You just need time to think of witty responses when we tell the fans about your smelly feet problem again," Vic said. Tony and Jaime laughed. The latter placed his arm around Vic's shoulders and nuzzled his nose in his neck, making Vic cringe.

"You know you love them," he whispered.

"Alright, I'm going to leave before it gets awkward. And hey," Tony stopped in the doorway and gave the two men a Look, "is there anything that I should know about? Anything going on between you two?"

Vic looked at Jaime. Jaime looked at Vic. Tony looked at them looking at each other and came up with his own answer. However, Jaime stuck his bottom lip out and somehow managed to shake his head while nodding it.

"Just practicing for that Fuenciado thing. You know, it's a thing that has spread amongst the fans. Gotta keep it up, you know?"

"Uh-huh..." Tony raised an eyebrow before leaving the bathroom with a small snicker on his face. Jaime wrapped his arm around Vic's waist and kissed his ear thus enticing a small smile from his bandmate.

"Come on," Vic said, "We're going to be late for the interview."

Jaime hugged him tighter. "Hey, Vic?"

"Hm?"

"I love you. Every fucking step of the way."


End file.
